1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method which enable printer settings to be made efficiently by handling a plurality of setting items together in a user interface (referred to as a “UI” hereinafter) through which users perform printing setting. Also, the present invention relates to a storage medium storing a sequence of such processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, users can adjust various types of printer settings through a user interface in an information processing apparatus for producing printing data, which can be interpreted by a printer, based on document data created using an application. Some user interfaces for printer drivers contain many items of printer settings in complicated mutually depending relation. Those user interfaces have a function of registering several setting items in one package and changing those plural setting items together when the registered setting is selected by the user.
Taking a printer driver made by Canon Inc. as an example, “printing object setting” is prepared. With this function, items regarding printing quality, such as a graphic mode, resolution, color setting, and replacement of TrueType font, are set and registered in association with icons beforehand, and one of the icons adapted for the printing object is selected at the time of starting printing so that the setting of plural printing items is changed together.
However, the above “printing object setting” is intended to change only graphic-related items regarding printing quality in one package. In spite of package conversion, therefore, only the items regarding printing quality are changeable and users have to seta printing format and a paper size each time. Another problem of the above “printing object setting” is that items can be registered and selected only from a sheet for setting the printing quality and the setting cannot be changed unless the sheet is opened.
While a variety of functions are included in recent printers and printer drivers, the above-mentioned printer driver does not include settings for input paper, output paper, a paper feed method, a paper ejection method, the number of copies, page layout, etc., and these items must be set separately. In other words, the above-mentioned printer driver is not adaptable for needs that will be more diversified in future. For example, when documents need to be printed in several particular formats for entitles such as banks, insurance companies and so on, printing must be performed using a variety of printing settings, such as printing quality, paper size, paper feed method, etc. Nevertheless, these individual items in diverse setting categories must be set separately for each format, and this is very inconvenient for the user.